Ed Brodt
5 year old buck +
I have been stomping around the woods for over 60 years now and today I saw something I still can’t hardly believe. I am in a tower blind deer hunting Kentucky’s late black powder season. I can see three food plots, a cedar thicket and a mineral lick from my stand. There are two does feeding in a small food plot of clover and rye. The mature doe gets spooked by something in the woods and they both run right under my blind in a hurry.
I am hoping a buck is trailing them so I am patiently waiting. Suddenly I see a Bobcat come out of the tree line right where the does had been. The Bobcat starts rolling on the ground in what I assume is deer scat. It then crossed the food plot and goes into the brush. While I have captured this cat on my trail camera a few times this is the first Bobcat I have ever seen in the wild. I am thinking this is pretty neat.
Then the first Bobcat sprints out of the brush and is followed by a second Bobcat. As rare as seeing one is I have never heard of seeing two at the same time. This is where it gets good. They are kind of playing around the edge of the brush line when I see two coyotes run into the food plot. The coyotes stop mid-run and they are in a staring contest with the two Bobcats which are about 20 feet away.
I don’t know what would have naturally happened next as I never pass up a chance to shoot a coyote. So, I shoot the first one and of course everybody scatters. The shot anchors the coyote but it is not dead. His tail and head are moving. I start to reload hoping the other coyote comes back to check on its partner. I look up and one of the Bobcats is now approaching the dying coyote. The Bobcat gets to within about 10 feet and sits down and continues to watch the coyote. Every few minutes the Bobcat moves to a different position and sits and watches. He is making a circle around the coyote. I figure when the coyote finally dies the Bobcat might take advantage of a free meal.
When the Coyote dies the Bobcat moves in real close and does an inspection, then walks into the woods. A few minutes later the second Bobcat appears and goes through the same routine plus it lays down and watches the coyote. It is now about 9:00 AM or so. I can see three food plots from my stand so I decide to stay and hunt a bit longer but thinking this particular plot is a dead zone with this coyote laying on the ground.
About 10:30 I look over and two mature does are in the plot and investigating this dead coyote. They stomp and sniff and circle and then walk off into the timber. I thought that most of this action took place in front of one of our trail cameras but as it turned out it was a few feet off to the left. However, I did manage to take a few pictures with my 35 MM camera that show some of the action. If you had been able to measure my adrenaline while this was going on I am sure it would have been off the charts.
Now, I don’t know if the Bobcats were he hunting the coyotes or the if the coyotes were hunting the Bobcats or if this was just a chance encounter. The spot where this happened is a major crossing point for deer from big timber to a cedar thicket and three food plots, so they may have been trailing deer. I do know that I feel extremely privileged to have witnessed such an event. I often get as much enjoyment out of watching as I do shooting game. This was certainly one of those occasions. No deer harvested today…..but what a memory.
I am hoping a buck is trailing them so I am patiently waiting. Suddenly I see a Bobcat come out of the tree line right where the does had been. The Bobcat starts rolling on the ground in what I assume is deer scat. It then crossed the food plot and goes into the brush. While I have captured this cat on my trail camera a few times this is the first Bobcat I have ever seen in the wild. I am thinking this is pretty neat.
Then the first Bobcat sprints out of the brush and is followed by a second Bobcat. As rare as seeing one is I have never heard of seeing two at the same time. This is where it gets good. They are kind of playing around the edge of the brush line when I see two coyotes run into the food plot. The coyotes stop mid-run and they are in a staring contest with the two Bobcats which are about 20 feet away.
I don’t know what would have naturally happened next as I never pass up a chance to shoot a coyote. So, I shoot the first one and of course everybody scatters. The shot anchors the coyote but it is not dead. His tail and head are moving. I start to reload hoping the other coyote comes back to check on its partner. I look up and one of the Bobcats is now approaching the dying coyote. The Bobcat gets to within about 10 feet and sits down and continues to watch the coyote. Every few minutes the Bobcat moves to a different position and sits and watches. He is making a circle around the coyote. I figure when the coyote finally dies the Bobcat might take advantage of a free meal.
When the Coyote dies the Bobcat moves in real close and does an inspection, then walks into the woods. A few minutes later the second Bobcat appears and goes through the same routine plus it lays down and watches the coyote. It is now about 9:00 AM or so. I can see three food plots from my stand so I decide to stay and hunt a bit longer but thinking this particular plot is a dead zone with this coyote laying on the ground.
About 10:30 I look over and two mature does are in the plot and investigating this dead coyote. They stomp and sniff and circle and then walk off into the timber. I thought that most of this action took place in front of one of our trail cameras but as it turned out it was a few feet off to the left. However, I did manage to take a few pictures with my 35 MM camera that show some of the action. If you had been able to measure my adrenaline while this was going on I am sure it would have been off the charts.
Now, I don’t know if the Bobcats were he hunting the coyotes or the if the coyotes were hunting the Bobcats or if this was just a chance encounter. The spot where this happened is a major crossing point for deer from big timber to a cedar thicket and three food plots, so they may have been trailing deer. I do know that I feel extremely privileged to have witnessed such an event. I often get as much enjoyment out of watching as I do shooting game. This was certainly one of those occasions. No deer harvested today…..but what a memory.
